Maryland student reporters arrested after coaching staff spotted them outside locker room

Maryland fired head football coach Mike Locksley Wednesday after five straight losses. The athletic department called it a mutual agreement between the school and the coach. Players met with leadership on Wednesday morning to hear the news before multiple outlets like OutKick confirmed the story. Reporters usually wait outside facilities for player reactions when a head coach leaves.

Defensive coordinator Aazaar Abdul-Rahim will guide the Terrapins for the rest of the season. Two student reporters from SB Nation stood outside Jones-Hill House hoping to speak with athletes about Locksley's dismissal. Nolan Rogalski and Jude Wilkenfeld believed they had permission since Maryland is a public university.

An athletics staffer photographed them instead. A staff member called police on the two students for suspicious activity. Officers arrived quickly, questioned what they were doing outside the complex, and ordered them to leave. Rogalski posted this account online regarding the incident involving Testudo Times and Jude Wilkenfeld.

The students appeared to do nothing wrong while covering a major campus story. They simply wanted quotes from players affected by the coaching change. Seven head coaches had already been fired in college football during this season. Every single firing led reporters to try gathering quotes from athletes involved in the news.

Something broke in communication Wednesday following Locksley's dismissal. Whether Maryland acted out of spite or just did not know what the students were doing remains up for debate. The University of Maryland Police Department recorded the names of Rogalski and Wilkenfeld but filed no official report on the incident. A joint statement from the school and UMPD Wednesday evening said they respect First Amendment rights for journalists.

The statement cited safety concerns around the football program as the reason police were contacted. Heightened security worries surrounding the team in recent weeks prompted the call to law enforcement on October 21, 2026. The incident highlights how difficult it can be for reporters to cover stories near university facilities when tensions run high.

A UMPD officer walked up to two people and found out they worked for a campus media group. He recorded their student IDs and did not file any report. Maryland Athletics and UMPD say they honor First Amendment rights for journalists working in public areas. The athletic department faces fresh criticism over how it handled recent press conferences with former head coach Mike Locksley. Now the team hunts for a new head coach while still making headlines because of its actions toward reporters.